Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
10 Feb False Equivalences in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict – International Humanitarian and Criminal Law Perspectives
...strikes on numerous cities in Azerbaijan, including those with no military targets. For instance, an attack on a cemetery in the city of Tartar killed four civilians and injured four others attending a funeral. Solely residential dwellings in Ganja – an Azerbaijani city 97 kilometres from the conflict zone – were repeatedly targeted in overnight attacks, thereby increasing the number of civilian deaths. A recent Amnesty International report similarly confirmed that strikes carried out by Armenian forces killed and harmed civilians “not directly participating in hostilities and not in the...
03 Mar Unilateral and Extraterritorial Sanctions Symposium: The Human Rights Dimension of Unilateral Sanctions
...individuals (ibid). As he ably explains, in relation to sanctions in States such as Syria and Venezuela, it is difficult to extricate the homemade misery from that caused by extraterritorial sanctions: while, on the one hand, sanctions clearly contribute to the aggravation of an already precarious human rights situation, he says, “one cannot claim that sanctions have caused the current humanitarian crisis in Syria or that they are responsible for the collapse of the Venezuelan economy”(ibid 399). Against that background, it may, as he comes close to implying, well be...06 May Michael Kearney on the Palestinian Declaration
...of international law. Rather than follow the political question – that of whether Palestine is an actual state on a par with states such as Switzerland or Syria – Al-Haq has rooted its consideration of the matter strictly in international law. Al-Haq’s paper considers whether the PA exercises jurisdiction over the crimes set forth in the Rome Statute of the ICC, and whether the meaning of ‘state’ for the purposes of the Rome Statute can properly be interpreted to include an entity such as Palestine. Davenport’s paper stresses that the...11 May The Past, Present, and Future of the Veto: An Additional Reply to Dr. Mohamed Helal
[Jennifer Trahan is an Associate Clinical Professor at the NYU Center for Global Affairs.] I, too, would like to thank Opinio Juris for our mini-symposium and dialogue on the use of the veto in the face of atrocity crimes. I hope it stimulates further thought, analysis and work on these important issues. For those who missed the debates, I posted attacking the legality of Russia’s veto in the face of chemical weapons use in Syria, Dr. Mohamed Helal defended Russia’s veto use as consistent with the drafting of the UN...23 Aug Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, August 23, 2012
...Minister Netanyahu was quick to respond that the letter did not represent an official government position. Jurist covers Russia’s admission into the WTO yesterday. The African Union and Senegal have reached an agreement about creating a tribunal to try former Chadian president Hissene Habre, accused of war crimes. “Foreign fighters” have joined the rebel forces in Syria, some of whom have alleged ties to al-Qaeda. In a phone call, President Obama and UK PM Cameron have agreed that the use or threat of chemical weapons in Syria would be unacceptable....18 Sep Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, September 18, 2013
...been awarded the world’s most prestigious refugee prize, the Nansen Refugee Prize, according to the UNHCR. The United States is set seize control of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper prosecutors claim is secretly owned by Iran, the US justice department said, though the ruling is to be appealed. The five permanent UN Security Council members have begun talks on a Western-drafted UN Security Council resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons. Foreign Policy has a piece about why none of the current plans about intervention in Syria is actually about saving civilians....
19 Nov International Responses to the Obstruction of Humanitarian Aid
[ Eian Katz is Counsel and Program Manager at Public International Law and Policy Group. Opinions expressed here are his own. ] Recent allegations that Turkey has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Nagorno-Karabakh mark the latest instance of a disturbing trend in global conflicts. In recent months, belligerent actors have engaged in similar acts of obstructionism in Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen to dire humanitarian effect. The abject politicization of aid delivery flouts the purported “right to humanitarian assistance” and necessitates a more forceful and coherent international response. Sovereign Consent Under international...09 Mar Weekly News Wrap: Monday, March 9, 2015
...to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Middle East and Northern Africa U.S. and coalition forces conducted five air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and nine in Iraq since early Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday. The Arab League called for the creation of a regional force to combat militants as countries face a growing threat from Islamic State and other groups. Islamic State militants in Libya seized a group of foreigners (from Austria, the Czech republic, Bangladesh, the Philippines and at least one...
17 Jul The Coming Kerfuffle over the Next ICC Prosecutor
...international organisation (he currently heads two investigative teams, in Myanmar and Syria, for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability). Lenayapa’s comments suggest that Kenya thinks neither African candidate is viable, given that Fatou Bensouda is from an African country. And he clearly believes that Roy’s election is precluded by the Rome Statute. (I think that’s wrong — as I’ve suggested on Twitter, the ASP could elect Roy if the current Deputy Prosecutor, James Stewart, was willing to resign.) Let me start by saying that I think any of the...21 Aug Weekday News Wrap, Tuesday, August 21, 2012
As UN monitors left Syria, fighting progressed to suburbs of Damascus. US president Barack Obama has said that if Syria’s government were to use chemical weapons, the US would be forced to act. German politicians have said that they will give no leeway to Greece regarding financial reform. Israel has positioned an Iron Dome, a rocket interceptor and destroyer, on the Egyptian border following two rocket attacks on the city of Eilat. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism says that the US government must allow investigation into...